When singer-guitarists Emily Kokal and Theresa Wayman sing, "now I've got you in the undertow," on Warpaint's debut LP, the line comes off like a threat. It's not dramatic, though. The words come out serenely-- perhaps too serenely. "What's the matter?/ You hurt yourself?/ Open your eyes and there was someone else," they coo dreamily, shape-shifting underneath a fine mist of guitars and bass. True to its name, "Undertow" sinks in without hurry. Its ambient horror is in the realm of Rosemary's Baby or Heavenly Creatures or the first half of The Shining. Their thrills are far from cheap. And the same sense of ghostliness runs throughout The Fool, a nine-song seance of an album that's as subtle as it is disquieting.
In these days of solitary laptop acts and quick-fizzle pop-up bands, Warpaint's free-floating sound is largely dependent on the uncanny bond between principals and long-time friends Kokal, Wayman, and bassist Jenny Lee Lindberg. Live, each one is in her own zone, often with eyes shut and head loose. It's almost like watching them make up songs in real-time at every show, the tangling highs and darting lows frothing to a natural climax only to dissipate just as easily. Their chemistry is inexplicable and fascinating to behold. With Kokal and Wayman often singing on either side of a central Lindberg-- who commands attention with her spaced-out sway-- the live attack is engrossing. Together with drummer Stella Mozgawa, Warpaint speak a sultry, desert-rock language that no one else is privy to, but you can't help but want to crack it nonetheless.
And while The Fool doesn't fully capture their brain-melded performances, it's a worthy simulacrum. The songs on which Kokal takes lead duties tend to be a bit more sinister (when she sings, "Don't you call anybody else baby cause I'm your baby still" on spare ballad "Baby", the 10-mile-stare delivery is spooky), while Wayman's verses are more vulnerable. Off-kilter highlight "Shadows" has Wayman stumbling through tinted sidewalks: "I know I'm afraid/ I'm drunk and I'm tired/ And the city I walk in feels like it swallows." The song's unique, snare-based beat and lonely string plucks aptly re-create her confusion. Elsewhere, flashes of Stevie Nicks (at her most diffuse) and Jeff Buckley (at his most daydreamy) meander through. And while sonic comparisons to early Cat Power have been abundant, Warpaint's live prowess and band-oriented sound offer distinct differences, too.
In the middle of "Baby", a small bit of George Harrison's White Album favorite "Long, Long, Long" sneaks in. "How I love you," sings Kokal, and then the nod is dropped just as quickly. The group pulled a similar trick on "Billie Holiday", from their Exquisite Corpse EP, on which they worked some of "My Guy" into the track's fabric. Like the effortlessness that surrounds Warpaint, both references feel totally instinctive; it's as if they just happened upon them, took what they needed, and moved on.
